[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2934 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 2934
To limit the availability of civil actions affected by United States
sanctions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 29, 2025
Mr. Cornyn (for himself and Mr. Padilla) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To limit the availability of civil actions affected by United States
sanctions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protecting Americans from Russian
Litigation Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY.
It is the policy of the United States--
(1) to ensure that United States persons are not
disadvantaged for actions or omissions undertaken to comply
with United States sanctions or export controls; and
(2) to ensure that foreign persons, or persons acting on
their behalf, cannot obtain compensation for any action related
to United States persons attempting in good faith to comply
with their obligations under United States sanctions or export
controls.
SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON CIVIL ACTIONS AFFECTED BY UNITED STATES
SANCTIONS.
(a) In General.--Chapter 111 of title 28, United States Code, is
amended by adding at the end the following:
``Sec. 1660. Limitation on civil actions affected by United States
sanctions
``(a) Limitation.--Notwithstanding any provision of law, no person
(other than the United States or a person acting on behalf of the
United States) may bring a civil action in Federal or State court to
enforce any foreign judgment or foreign arbitral award arising from a
claim where--
``(1) the underlying conduct or circumstances giving rise
to the claim resulted from actions to comply with United States
sanctions impeding the performance of a contract; or
``(2) the court or tribunal issuing the judgment or
arbitral award asserted jurisdiction based, in whole or in
part, on the imposition of United States sanctions or export
controls (or any foreign law enacted in response to the
imposition of United States sanctions or export controls).
``(b) Removal and Dismissal.--An action to recognize or enforce a
foreign judgment or foreign arbitral award described in subsection (a)
may be removed by any defendant to the appropriate United States
district court, which shall dismiss the action.
``(c) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section may be
construed to limit--
``(1) the authority of the President, any delegate of the
President (including the Office of Foreign Assets Control of
the Department of the Treasury), or any other officer or
official of the United States to bring any action or exercise
any responsibility under any applicable State or Federal law;
``(2) any right, remedy, or cause of action available to a
victim of international terrorism, torture, extrajudicial
killing, aircraft sabotage, or hostage taking, who is, or was
at the time of the victim's injury, a national of the United
States, a member of the United States Armed Forces, an employee
of the United States Government, or an individual performing a
contract awarded by the United States Government acting within
the scope of the individual's employment, or a family member of
any such victim, under any applicable State or Federal law,
including--
``(A) chapter 97 of this title;
``(B) chapter 113B of title 18; and
``(C) the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human
Rights Act of 2012 (22 U.S.C. 8701 et seq.) and any
other laws providing for the application of sanctions
with respect to Iran or Syria;
``(3) any right, remedy, or cause of action available to
any party arising under or relating to the party's contractual
rights (other than an action to enforce a foreign judgment or
foreign arbitral award described in subsection (a)) where the
parties agreed to resolve all disputes by litigation in a State
or Federal court within the United States or by arbitration
within the United States; or
``(4) any other right, remedy, or cause of action available
to any party arising under State or Federal law (other than an
action to enforce a foreign judgment or foreign arbitral award
described in subsection (a)) where the underlying conduct or
circumstances giving rise to the claim resulted from the
imposition of United States sanctions or export controls.
``(d) United States Sanctions Defined.--In this section:
``(1) In general.--The term `United States sanctions' means
any prohibition, restriction, or condition on transactions
involving any property in which any foreign country or national
thereof has any interest that is imposed by the United States
to address threats to the national security, foreign policy, or
economy of the United States pursuant to--
``(A) section 203 of the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1702); or
``(B) any other provision of law, including any
provision of law relating to export controls.
``(2) Duties.--The term `United States sanctions' does not
include the imposition of a duty on the importation of
goods.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections for such chapter is
amended by inserting after the item relating to section 1659 the
following new item:
``1660. Limitation on civil actions affected by United States
sanctions.''.
(c) Application.--Section 1660 of title 28, United States Code, as
added by subsection (a), applies with respect to civil actions pending
on or after the date of the enactment of this Act.
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